Bart Allen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
backinakidflash) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tushanshu2014-05-03 01:32 pm
backinakidflash) wrote in tushanshu2014-05-03 01:32 pm
Entry tags:
voice post; anon location
These
I know
Anybo
Look. I
You
things are
still glitching, yeah? I should repeat ever
ything four times to
make sure it gets
out, but that'd make it take
four times longer than
normal. Voice post
cause somebody thought it was a
good idea to make me sit
through The Ring. The static
creeps me out.Everybo
dy see how
Dumbass went and Malef
icent'ed up the joint? Is there
something that I never
got taught? Some rule about
how when you take
over you have to
make the HQ look
like an evil
HQ? Interior Design for Superv
illains 301. I mean. Seriously. With the black
and the spikes. It's
like a video game.
Check that.
It IS a video
game. And I've played about
17,000 versions
of it. That's the
giant ass dungeon
that you can't get into until
you're leveled up
. It's Bowser's Ca
stle. It's
Ganon's Tower. It's Ice
crown Citadel, and I'm in
full 245s.I know
where this is
gonna go. Can't miss it, because
Dumbass made it look
like Evil Vegas. So we
walk or
waltz or storm or
sneak into the
castle and avoid
the lava and the
fire and the falling shit that's
always there. Always. Falling. Shit. Note to self:
helmet. Get to the throne room
and duke it out,
only they take a helicopter
or trap door or
leap off the balcony
because the game's not
over yet. Anybo
dy
want to catch
a cultist and find out where
the escape route goes so
we can cut
that one off? Or they
tell us where he really
is. Cause it ain't under the
neon arrow sign saying
"Evil Overlord Lives Here." Don't
tell me that
video games aren't
educatio
nal.Look. I
know you're
pissed. Maybe I deserve it. That's
not even a real maybe
. I already told you before that I'm a
moron. So could you at least spell
out what I did wrong?
I kissed you. You freaked.
You
kissed me,
and I was still
stuck on the freaking? But then you
act like it's fine and you came back to
sleep over. I dunno what I coulda
done different, but I obviously did
something wrong so. I'm sorry.
action;
Bart, do you want to be friends or.. not-friends? [She asked awkwardly, trying to take Kon's advice and talk it out.
Hayley wasn't sure that she could play friends with the ambiguity sticking around and she would be disappointed in herself if she let the opportunity pass without even giving it a shot. Dating was a thing normal teenagers did, after all. Besides, she didn't want to lose him, for a lot of reasons, most of which she knew were kind of selfish.]
I mean, well, you keep explaining all these things and I can't tell if that means you really do want to just pretend it never happened or if you actually want to maybe try and see how it goes but you're just saying you don't because.. I don't actually know why you would, but..
[She lifted both hands to wrap around her neck, elbows pulling together awkwardly in front of her chest.] Please just tell me so I can stop talking.
action;
The rest of what she says relaxes him somewhat, but he's not sure if they're playing on the same field.]
Don't call it not-friends unless that's literally what you're asking, do I wanna not be friends? It's confusing. The answer is no if that is what you're asking. Friends is a minimum, OK? For me, that's like the least I wanna be.
I keep screwing this up. I want you to be the one picking, not me. I'm not saying I don't. I'm saying... I don't know how to say what I'm saying. [He knew what he was trying not to say. There'd been this... vibe to something she'd said about her dad, and Bart didn't want to touch it with a 10-foot-pole. He didn't want to be the one to define things because it didn't feel right, but they couldn't both default to the other's decision. That she was almost choking herself to get through the conversation was a bad sign. Wasn't it?]
Because I dunno if I'm right, and I'd rather be wrong, and I'm no good at not saying things. And who says I want you to stop talking? I missed talking to you.
action;
If Bart was paying close attention, he might notice the shift, that her actions suddenly seemed more deliberate and that her expression was painted on. Hayley was now playing the role of normal teenage girl because it was easier than trying to be herself. She was suddenly much more at ease.]
I meant to be like, so articulate. [She chuckled slightly, dropping her gaze and then looking up to him again.] It's.. not really something either of us can choose, unless the other agrees.
[Slowly, hesitantly, she stepped forward to close most of the space between them, coming to stand only a foot or so away. She looked up at him, a confidence in her expression that wasn't there a moment before.]
I don't understand.. What do you hope you're wrong about?
Re: action;
[It would be better that way, he told himself. Losing a friend wouldn't hurt so much.
When she came closer, she didn't look nervous or scared. Certainly not like anyone who'd been through that, not anywhere in the same zone as traumatized. He was way off the mark with that assumption.]
Nothing. It doesn't matter. [He wanted to cringe at the terrible word choice when it hit his own ears and had to remind himself that the only reason why it didn't matter was because it didn't happen. If it had, it'd matter, but it didn't so it doesn't. Everything's fine, and he needs to stop pretending to have any great insight.] Just me being dumb. I used to think baby powder was made out of babies. This is nothing.
action;
Hayley lifted her hands to rest on his chest, lowering her eyes to watch the way her fingers created soft dents in his shirt, pressing against him. It was something she had done once before with him, something that still felt as simultaneously comfortable and foreign as it had before.]
I want you to be my boyfriend. [She told his chest. Even playing a role, it was hard to get out the words. One of the last things Hayley expected to happen in this place was finding a relationship - or, more specifically, agreeing to one.
Her lips curved into a smile and she looked up at him again.]
action;
But no, there was no force behind it. She was just. Touching him. It was nice, really, and nicer still was what she said. Bart couldn't help tucking his chin and smiling the sort of smile that someone gets when they don't care who sees how happy they are. Warm and open, without any lopsided smirking, eyes almost drifting shut.
Hearing someone say they like you too, in whatever words, is always bolstering. It's not that he was looking for an ego boost, but he'll still take it.]
OK. So you're my girlfriend then.
action;
Good. [She rose up on the balls of her feet to kiss him lightly, something casual. It was easier to let the facade fade away now that that was settled.]
Now we can talk about why you're provoking the Big Bad Wolf and how Kon was talking about starting a team, which I'm totally going to be on because I have weapons and can do magic, which I definitely would have told you about sooner if we weren't both, you know, avoiding each other and everything.
action;
No, because half the reason why he likes her is that she keeps him guessing. Keeps him on his toes with abrupt subject changes. Bart feels like she keeps up with him, the way she can slam into another conversation with no warning.
But he really wants another kiss.]
Because it's what I do. What, you want me to ignore him? Not gonna happen. Ever. I know I'm making myself a target. I'm cool with that. That's... kinda what vigilantes do, y'know. That's what'll happen if you're on a team with me and Kon.
[He is visibly upset by the very idea. It's not that Bart has a problem with human heroes, female heroes, or young heroes, but every one he's ever known has joined the team as a valid, capable hero. He and Kon have never trained anyone, and Hayley's reasoning for the K affair made it very clear that she was a normal girl. No. He doesn't want her on the team.]
Having weapons doesn't mean you know what to do with them. And since when can you do magic? You don't just suddenly turn into a wizard.
action;
[She frowns up at him, not entirely sure why he looks so displeased. Her instant concern is that he'll tell her she can't be on the team, the exact reaction she expected, the one Kon told her he'd deal with. Maybe she should have waited for him to be around before telling Bart about it.
The whole romance thing made her slip again, get sloppy in what she's telling him and how. Hayley silently curses herself for screwing up again.]
I do though. [Her hands fall away from his chest and she takes the half step backward to create distance between them again, the physical reflecting the emotional.] And since Sabriel started teaching me months ago. After Hannibal murdered me.
Re: action;
[It wasn't a bad idea. It wasn't a great idea; Bart was convinced her place would be one of the first that someone checked for him, if he wasn't at home. Maybe they'd his place getting blown to smithereens from her house. It wasn't that far away.]
OK. Let me get this straight. You - the girl who loves giving all of us crap about secret identities, costumes, powers, everything. You've been learning magic all this time, and you didn't even say anything? I've honest with you. 80% honest. But about me, I haven't been hiding stuff. I could've. [He rubbed at his cheek as he floundered for words.] Helped, or something.
action;
Okay, there's a gargantuan, monumental difference between that and this. You're talking about lying to everyone you care about about what you do. Which isn't even that terrible aside from the whole lying about who you are as a general thing? Except that you completely take their choice away from them. They can't choose whether or not they want the life or to help or whatever. You make the choice for them, you take away their power to choose and say it's for their own good. Just like villains do.
[A beat.] I really don't think I've ever criticized anyone for having secret powers. Like, I don't know where you keep your costume? And I didn't learn about that whole phase-through-walls thing until way later and I didn't freak out about that. Everyone has exit strategies and secret weapons and aces up their sleeves. And, okay, I probably have more than most but that's part of why you like me, right?
[She flashed him an intentionally flirtatious smile, tilting her head as she looked up at him. Then she offered a remark meant to be offhand, but one she realized the truth of as soon as it left her lips:]
You help me by being here and trusting me, even when I don't always give you reason to.
action;
Woah. Let's get one thing straight. I don't hide it from the people I love. And most of the people I care about - almost all of them've known for a long time. If the few that didn't - two? Maybe three - I'm pretty sure they figure it out when I disappear and there's a public funeral for a superhero and everyone's like 'by the way, his name was Bart Allen.' It's their choice to stick around. It's not my fault that almost everybody I know is completely badass. I'd take odds on my Grandma against just about everyone. It's not like I'm keeping it from my family and not telling the girl I'm dating until after we're married - has happened, actually. So don't put me on par with the villains because I'm not introducing myself as Bart Allen, speedster, Teen Titan, superhero.
[Bart just. Stared at her when she says that she's never criticized anyone for secrets and powers. He wasn't religious, but this was only serving to underline that, if there was a smiting sort of god, he or she no longer existed because Hayley should be smote for a whopper that big.
But she was right about her secretiveness being part of her appeal. What she didn't seem to get was that it annoyed him almost as much as it interested him because, at some point, he'd like to see what she's hiding. No matter how much he showed her, he thought as he released the catch on his ring without bothering to catch his uniform as it sprang out, she never bothered to return the favor.]
I don't hide things. Vibrating through solids was an oversight. I don't run down the entire checklist of ways I can use my powers, geez.
action;
[Because that's clearly the most important part of what he said. Hayley didn't know what to say to his response. Bart was right that he didn't exactly hide it. He had told her way before they know each other well at all and she realized that her argument was actually meant for someone else.
She jumped back a step, out of instinct, when the costume sprung from his ring, not quite realizing what it was. Then she reached down to pick it up, turning it over for just a second before she recognized it. Hayley rolled it loosely around her crossed arms to avoid it dragging on the floor and then hugged it against herself as she looked up at him again. Her eyes scanned to find its source, noticing the open ring on his finger.]
Fancy trick. [She smiled up at him, almost adoringly, because it really was such a cool thing to see. It also served as a reminder of what had drawn her to him in the first place, that simultaneous simplicity and complexity. Then her smile waned.]
It's not like I'm trying to hide what I can do. You never asked. You always just assumed I couldn't do anything.
[It wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't a lie either. Hayley really didn't have interest in hiding her abilities from Bart, just some of her history and some of her resources. Oh and maybe some of the dark places she was willing to go.]
So, okay. Let's play checklist. After I was murdered, I started learning magic from Sabriel, I found the Kryptonite at an auction, I asked Tony for a weapon, I sort of made a deal with the Batman to start training, and I talked to Jason about different ideas for revenge over a shared.. whatever alcohol that was.
Then Jason left, the Batman's ignoring me, it's technically a plasma rifle not an anti-speed gun, you know how the whole Kryptonite thing went, and now I can do magic. Pushing, pulling, fire, immobilizing, and healing, in case you're wondering. So stop treating me like a helpless kid and if you want to know something, just ask.
[Hayley knew she had denied him answers to questions before, or lied about them, but it was different now. She was in too deep in this place not to have good allies - and friends. Bart was a protection and a valuable resource, but he was also someone she had begrudgingly come to actually care about. As long as he didn't learn the things she didn't want him to, she trusted him with everything else.]
action;
[Once the initial surprised stupor fades, he figured out where Hayley had drawn it from. He had worded things badly.] That wasn't me. I'm just saying, y'know, somebody actually did that. I don't think it's a good idea. At all. I mean... people have died for being related to members of the Justice League. It's not cool to bring someone into that blindfolded. It ain't fair.
[Bart held out a hand for his costume, wanting to put it away again.] Who's Jason and why is he giving you booze? Also, it's not "the Batman." Only bad guys call him that. It's Batman or Bats or the spook or the ghoul or sometimes the Bat, but nobody ever says the Batman. I haven't heard from him lately either, not that we're besties. [Bart suspects he's gone, but gone home or gone underground - he isn't privy to such information.] Don't take it personal. He's grumpy. Doesn't sleep nights.
[He wants to tell her that he doesn't think of her as helpless, but he can't find the right words to explain that he would try to protect her if she were the most powerful person on the planet. Maybe not as much, but the impulse would still be there.] If we're listing it all out, I heal fast. I think you know that, but maybe not how fast. I don't forget what I read. I can create vortexes. I don't think you've seen that one. And there's the scouts, but... I think I'm enough of an energy drain on the turtle. I've only used them twicee here.
action;
You're right. That's a terrible idea. [Waiting until marriage and hiding for so long. Then she dropped her hands.] Jason was a good friend of mine- sort of. I mean, not really? But we had a lot in common and.. I don't know, he just got me. It was cool. And please, that wasn't the first time I had a drink. Relax.
[She noted the correction about Batman, some part of her wondering why no one had corrected her before until she remembered: because it was Bart and who else would.] And okay, Batman. Whatever. I've seen him around, but he's ignoring me- Oh!
[She grinned unapologetically.] Remember that time I used your console and you all pissed off because you totally thought everyone would think we were like arguing or whatever? That was me arguing with him so he would meet me. The second time. It's a long story. The point is he's totally an asshole.
[When it came to Bart's powers, she paid much more attention. Hayley hadn't expected anything new after his whole preaching about being open and honest. She was right about everyone having their secrets.]
What are scouts? And what kind of vortexes? And wait, does the healing thing have to do with your increased metabolism or is that something else? Like how you can't be poisoned, right? Is that from the metabolism or from the healing power?
Re: action;
Drinking's over-rated. Doesn't work on me anyone - it's the metabolism thing. I dunno if it works on poison. I'm not about to take cyanide. Besides. The answer's probably no. I think if I got shot with a ricin pellet I'd die like anybody else. But medicines and stuff - I burn through'em too fast. It's all sped-up metabolism. I heal cuts and broken bones in no time for you, so long as they're clean. But messy stuff... I'm screwed worse than you are. Like when my knee got wrecked, it kept healing over in surgery. Healing's not really the right word though, because if it had stayed that way, forget running. Scabbing over. Scar tissue everywhere. They had to keep opening me back up to work.
[It's not fun to talk about, and more upsetting to remember it vividly, so Bart looks to the side and hesitantly touches on Batman some more. He's not in the habit of talking to anyone, here or home, about Batman if they aren't wearing bright colored armor or spandex. Too much thought required to watch his mouth.]
He was one of the ones that I was worried about, y'know, when I got mad. They all read into everything you say and do. Me, I've read all the psych books, but I can't do what they do. I didn't know how he'd take it.
[That's all he dared to say before abruptly moving to power applications. Metahuman talk distracted her.]
Air vortexes. Like how you get hit with a gust of wind when a train goes fast. I run in a circle, and it's like a tornado. It'll suck all the oxygen out if it's fast enough. Scouts are. Harder to explain. They're energy copies of me. They can time travel.
action;
By the end of his explanation about his healing, she's actively frowning. He mentioned his knee getting shot and how it still bothers him. With an ability like that, there's no wonder. She wants to try to heal it with magic, but her doubts that it will work prevent her from moving.
She manages to follow his abrupt topic change, too happy to be distracted and yet not willing to ignore the previous topics.]
That.. sounds kind of awesome. The vortexes, I mean. The time traveling energy copies? It's.. well, like, I bet they'd be totally cool, but I'm having a hard time picturing them, so it kind of reminds of that one show Johnny Quest that I never actually watched, but it was on after Powerpuff Girls, so I always say the preview or commercials. It might not actually involve time travel. I don't know.
[The more time Hayley spends around Bart, the worse her rambling becomes. It's a problem, in a way. She's noticed the natural reaction she has of mirroring herself to whoever she's around and while that's fine and dandy with people like Bart and Kon, she worries it could easily be a problem if someone like Lex or Jason came back.]
Trust me, I know what Batman's like. I didn't exactly have a choice at the time.
[Her defensive nature wins out over her need to lead Bart away from questions she's unwilling to answer. Bart seems to be handling the Superman attack by ignoring it as a one-time incident rather than dealing with the fact that maybe that's who she is. She's not sure he could handle what Batman knows about Jeff.]
And I'm sorry about your knee. Super healing sounds pretty cool until things like that happen.
[Hayley tentatively reaches out, her hands hovering in the space between them for a split second before she wraps her arms around him in a hug. He's too good a guy to have dealt with most of things he has. Those things are better reserved for people like her, Kon, and Jason. Maybe she should be protecting him.]
Re: action;
Hey. You had nothing to do with that. Anyway, I keep telling you I'm awesome. It's like you need more proof or something. I don't get what's so hard to picture. They're like me. Just a little glowy and yellow.
[Bart sighed a little and gave serious consideration to making one appear. Nearly did, but he meant what he said. He didn't want to be more of a drain on the turtle than he already was. He could reconcile using his own speed - whether he physically went fast or not, he himself was always on high gear. But a scout was gratuitous.]
I know all the Bats are tough to track down when they don't want to be. Not that I've tried to find Batman, but Robin can vanish if he wants to. Guess who he learned that from. Next time at least try asking me to ask him? I know it can take longer, but I'd like to keep the number of 'bad guys' and bad-guy-related people to less than the number of fingers I have. It's getting close.
[He starts ticking them off on his fingers.] Maternal grandfather's a totalitarian dictator. Killed my dad. Maternal ancestor. Worst of the worst crazy pants. Both of them would kill me if they could. I went to school with a kid called Evil Eye - like that says nothing - and his father was the lamest rogue ever. Called himself the Transparent Weapon. His grandfather was a mad scientist. I'm not making this up. Ignoring the time I accidentally wound up joining White Lightning's gang. My clone killed me. My cousin's best friend, supposedly reformed, helped. Kon got brainwashed into attacking the Titans. Another teammate went nuts and kidnapped 20 of us. I was on a team with an alien mercenary, and. I dated Mota's daughter. I also hang out with Red Robin, who is every drop as paranoid as Bats is, believe me. I think it's starting to rub off, because I got way antsy when you were calling yourself a villain.
[Bart leaned in and rested his forehead against hers.] I don't think you're trouble. Might tease you about it, but you're not. I just think I hit quorum for how much trouble I can take. People already think I'm clueless. And don't say it's not about me. I know that too, so I'm not yelling. 'm explaining. That's why I flipped that day.
action;
[There's really no more to be said for it. It's too far outside of her scope of understanding to really accept immediately. Like Kon being a clone of Lex and Clark. Like Bart and Kon both having age complexities. She's still processing some of those things and likes to kind of ignore the others.
As Bart begins listing off villains, murdered family members, brainwashing, and paranoia, Hayley progressively tenses. She's considering withdrawing from him when he rests his forehead on hers and, for one very brief moment, she blocks out his words and revels in the security and rarity of the moment. She's happy.
Then reality comes flooding back in just as quickly and she pulls away from him entirely, wrapping her hands around the back of her neck with her elbows meeting in front of her. Hayley grimaces apologetically.]
I didn't know you knew Batman well enough to ask him anything. [She says quietly, offering no explanation for her sudden coldness. Then, seemingly spontaneous with a distinct change in tone, she asks:] What if I am a villain, Bart?
[The things he talks about, they call to mind what Jason told her about the inevitability of her killing and just how well she got along with Lex. She's terrified by the idea, almost as much as she's terrified of doing nothing.]
action;
Do I know him well enough to guarantee you an answer? No. Do I know him well enough to get you whatever response a lot quicker than a vague post made to the whole network? Yeah.
[Having been in someone's walk-in pantry (someday he'll be rich and have a walk-in pantry) gives the statement a certain bravado. Besides. It would've given him more of her trust, if she had asked. He craves it, really; he doesn't need to be applauded constantly, but Bart likes to be liked. To be trusted and needed. He doesn't do well ignored in the corner.
Bart reached over, intending to pry her elbows apart and let his hands follow her forearms up until they either loosed her hands or slid between them and her neck. His hands wouldn't be gripping like that, unlike hers.]
One mistake doesn't make you a villain. You don't wake up one morning and say "I think I'll be evil now". It's about how you were raised and your moral code and your ideals and. I dunno. Probably where you fall on some sort of megalomania scale. Why are you so stuck on this? Who said something?
action;
No one said anything. [She replied softly, her smile falling away to a frown again. With a small pout, she tugged gently down on his elbows, trying to bend them more in order to bring her closer to him as before. Her hands didn't move from his arms as her eyes dropped to his chest.] Okay, someone may have implied I'm going to grow up to be a monster no matter what I do because I'm already too far gone, but I don't believe them.
[There was something in her tone, the way her voice caught for a split second, that suggested it was something she was desperately trying not to believe, rather than something she knew she didn't. It was strange admitting to it aloud. She had told Kon of her fears of being a villain already, but not what had inspired them or the idea that she was too broken to ever fix.]
action;
You're not gonna be a monster. Not while I'm around.
[Logic would say that the statement isn't particularly reassuring, as there's no guarantee that both of them will still be in the room when he blinks next. Bart is in the practice of ignoring logic whenever he thinks of her.
He slides a hand up into her hair and pulls her in the rest of the way, because he doesn't know how to argue this, really. It's obviously bugging her, if she's got to talk to Batman about it.]
You made a mistake. It's not a life sentence. Kal didn't press charges. You didn't even have bad motives. Whoever told you that's an idiot.
action;
Hayley drops her hands to wrap around his waist when he pulls her closer. They're the kind of actions she almost views objectively, calculates as things she's seen in media and witnessed of her friends. At the same time, they feel good. Maybe she doesn't have to play a role with him.
She tucks her head up in the crook beneath his chin, turning it enough so she can continue talking to him.] Forget the attack, Bart. It's not about that. It's about Lex and Jason and what I was thinking about doing to try to get the stupid rock.
['Attacking Superman was a mistake,' she wants to say, 'but I don't know if it was a fluke.' Instead, she leaves it with the ambiguity. Hayley likes her relationship with Bart - as akin to navigating a mine field as it is - too much to risk it by admitting to her other actions, the ones that weren't mistakes at all.]
Re: action;
Which is why he hates to hear her willingly tarnish herself. She means too much to him. With the moment shattered by her words, Bart gears up to defend her to her, but he doesn't let go of her. The hand on her neck tightens for a moment, a physical flinch at the first name, but he relaxes it and lets it drift down into her back where that can't happen again. Where it can only press her closer.]
You're nothing like Lex. I know you got along with the one that was here. I didn't know him. I didn't want to. Maybe he was OK, but I'm not a good enough person to separate them in my mind. I could barely separate my cousin from the one from home. The one on my world sucked. Almost completely. The almost is only because I'd be down a friend if it weren't for him. But whatever you did for the K or wanted to or whatever you're dancing around. It's not on his level. He's not human.
[He wants to go on, to detail parts of Kon's life and how much of a fuck head he's seen Lex be, but he won't do that. Won't risk Kon or Supes hearing him from halfway across the shell. The animosity is fervent though. Maybe this Lex hadn't been pathetic. Hayley is still worth 10 of him.] You - you still didn't tell me who Jason is and how he fits into this. Since I'm not allowed to judge'im for the alcohol.
action;
She tenses when his hand tightens ever so slightly on her neck. When his hand drifts to her back, her muscles remain tense. For once, however, she doesn't withdraw or even move his hand. Hayley stays there, stiff, with her arms still around him and her cheek on his chest.]
I know. [She doesn't believe the Lex she knew is as bad as the one they all hate, the one Kon was modeled after, but that's not an argument she feels like having right now. Instead, she simply agrees that she's not as bad as he is. Then she gives a small smile.] Why? You jealous?
[She tense more noticeably as a new thought emerges and pulls back just enough to look at him.] Jason was Tim's adopted brother.
[A beat.] I mean, he didn't really consider them his family after dying, but the point is- Well, he was the only one who said I could take whatever path I wanted after the whole murder thing, without telling me what I should be doing or treating me like a victim. He empowered me. And I liked that.
action;
action;
Re: action;
action;
Re: action;
action;